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November 19, 2019

Bank of America Business Advantage Credit Card Review

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Fora Financial

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This review is meant to help you decide if the Bank of America Business Advantage is right for your business. This family of credit cards has rewards that fit within the needs of most companies, with a tiered system that can boost rewards in categories of your choosing. Plus, an additional boost to earnings is available to Preferred Awards for Business Platinum Honors members.

About the Bank of America Business Advantage Credit Card

There are three credit cards in this family of cards (Business Advantage). Two of the cards offer rewards, either for cash back or travel points. The third card offers a lower interest rate. For the Bank of America Business Advantage Cash Rewards credit card, members have the option of choosing among six categories. The highest-tier reward rate will be applied to purchases made within this category.  For the Bank of America Business Advantage Travel Rewards, members earn points on travel-related purchases, which include hotels, airline, and car rentals. The Platinum Plus card is for business owners who want to save on the interest rate charged. The rate is one to two percentage points lower than the other cards in this family of cards. The best card to choose will depend on the circumstances of your business. If you make a majority of purchases in a few of the six categories qualified for the 3% cash back bonuses, then that may be the best choice. If you'd like to have credit towards travel purchases, the Advantage Travel Rewards world can offer great benefits to your business. The Platinum Plus can be used for business owners who want to save on all purchases and are less concerned with points or cash rewards. This card is the simplest to use as it doesn’t involve any levels of rewards. At Fora Financial, we help businesses by offering them flexible financing solutions. As part of this initiative, we creative helpful and timely tips for business owners. Learn more by signing up for our cta-newsletter.

Benefits and Rewards with Bank of America Business Advantage

The Business Advantage Travel Rewards MasterCard will benefit business owners who travel frequently. With this card, you'll earn three points per every dollar spent. For the Business Advantage Cash Rewards MasterCard, the categories included are as follows:
  • Gas stations (default)
  • Travel
  • Office supply stores
  • Television, telecom, and wireless
  • Business consulting services
  • Computer services
If your business makes frequent purchases in the above categories, you can choose one of them per month to earn more rewards. For dining, the cash rewards card is eligible for 2% cash back for up to $50,000 in spending. After that level, dining reverts to the 1% unlimited rewards on all purchases outside the listed categories. Bank of America has a Preferred Rewards program that can boost the benefits of Business Advantage rewards cards. This program is geared towards businesses that spend $20,000 or more. If your business spends $100,000 or more, it’ll be eligible for the Premium Rewards Platinum Honors. The rewards levels in this program are extensive, and details of the program are given on Bank of America’s Preferred Rewards page.

Pros and Cons

The pros and cons of the Business Advantage credit card will depend on the perspective of business owners and their business circumstances. For instance, if you don’t travel much for business, then the travel benefits on either card (cash card has travel as a category) won’t be considered a pro. Instead, the cash rewards card may serve your needs more appropriately. The following are some of the pros and cons of these cards.

Pros of the Bank of America Business Advantage Credit Card

  • The Business Advantage Cash Rewards card allows its members to choose up to six categories to earn the highest level of rewards. The rate for earnings at this level is 3%. 
  • Travel is one of the categories for the cash back card. If a small amount of travel is common for a business, choosing this category to earn the 3% makes sense. For significant travel, however, the travel card may be a better choice.
  • The travel rewards card doesn’t charge fees for foreign transactions, and there are no blackout periods. Points can be redeemed for travel-related items or for cash and gift cards.
  • Members who spend $20,000 or more will be eligible for boosts in the rewards cards. For example, if your business spends $100,000 or more, some of the rewards are boosted by 75%.
  • All Business Advantage credit cards are eligible for 0% introductory interest rate. For the rewards cards, this rate is for the first nine months and for the Platinum Plus, it’s for the first seven months. Members are eligible for a $300 sign-up bonus on the Business Advantage Cash Rewards card and the Platinum Plus card. For the Business Advantage Travel card, members receive a sign-up bonus of 25,000 miles.
Categories Payment - Pros and Cons

Cons of the Bank of America Business Advantage Credit Card

  • The six categories for the Business Advantage Cash Rewards are convenient for businesses that make purchases within those categories. However, a category must be chosen each month and is locked in for the month. For business owners who spend in multiple categories, the locked-in categories can be frustrating.
  • The default category for the cash rewards card is gas stations. If business owners forget to change the category, they are stuck with the gas category for the month. In a company that travels by vehicles frequently, this can be beneficial. For others, however, it may not be useful.
  • The different tiers for the cards can be confusing to business owners who prefer simplicity. 

Alternative Small Business Credit Cards

For business owners who want to save on the interest rate charged and aren’t concerned as much with receiving cash back or travel points, the Platinum Plus MasterCard within the Business Advantage family may be a better choice. The interest rate is usually 1% to 2% less than the rate charged on the other cards in this card family. 

Our Verdict

If you don’t mind traversing through the complicated rewards maze, the rewards-based cards in the Business Advantage family of cards can work for your business. For high-spending businesses, the Preferred Rewards program will boost these rewards even further, albeit with more complications. You’ll need to manage your categories for the cash rewards, but the amount you earn could make it worth it to do so. Reviewing your purchasing patterns over the past several years may show patterns to help you with choosing the proper categories each month. If you don’t want to deal with tiered rewards, you may consider choosing the Platinum Plus card. If you'd like help choosing a business card, we can help you at Fora Financial. We specialize in helping small business owners find the right financial solutions to make their businesses thrive. We can do the same for you. [cta-freequote]